Bassoon

What is the best way to mike a bassoon?
John Malek
Ann Arbor Audio

Reply: The woodwinds, bassoon included, seem to sound best when miked from the side of the wind column rather than near either end of the wind column. The closest miking distance should be about as far way as the sound-radiating part of the instrument. For example, if the fingering holes extend about 8 inches from end to end, a good starting miking distance is 8 inches from the fingering holes. That's if you want to pick up the bassoon and not any room acoustics. You could clip a Crown GLM-100 microphone to the bassoon hardware at that distance by using the GLM-UM universal mount supplied with the microphone.

A miking distance of 2 feet will pick up all the tone holes about equally and will capture a bit of room acoustics. The recommended Crown mic is the CM-700 cardioid condenser mic, which provides a natural sound.

If you want to include the room acoustics in the recording, try these techniques:
PZM-30D or PZM-6D on the floor about 15 feet away in a live room.
CM-700, 4 feet in front and about 3.5 feet high, combined with another CM-700 that is 2 feet behind and to the right of the player.